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Author News & Interviews

Interview: Larry Tye, author of The Jazzmen: How Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie Transformed America

Jul 11, 2024

Larry Tye’s THE JAZZMEN is a sweeping and spellbinding portrait of the longtime kings of jazz --- Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and Count Basie --- who, born within a few years of one another, overcame racist exclusion and violence to become the most popular entertainers on the planet. In this interview conducted by Michael Barson, Senior Publicity Executive at Melville House, Tye explains why he chose these three iconic figures as the subjects of his book, how he approached the process of doing original research into their lives and times, and why he believes that jazz is here to stay.

Interview: Robert J. Lloyd, author of The Bedlam Cadaver: A Hunt & Hooke Novel

Jun 27, 2024

In late 17th-century London, rich young women are being kidnapped and then murdered. Harry Hunt, formerly of the Royal Society but now a rich gentleman, is falsely accused. To clear his name, he must rely on his abandoned scientific expertise and battle the full force of the British aristocracy in THE BEDLAM CADAVER, Robert J. Lloyd's third Hunt & Hooke mystery. In this interview conducted by Michael Barson, Senior Publicity Executive at Melville House, Lloyd discusses why he decided to set his latest novel at Bethlehem Hospital (aka Bedlam). He also explains how he handles science and medicine in his series and reveals the one person from another historical period he would like to make the subject of a book.

Interview: Greg Iles, author of Southern Man

Jun 13, 2024

After a five-year hiatus, Greg Iles is back with SOUTHERN MAN, the hugely anticipated new Penn Cage thriller that captures the political unrest of a nation dangling between a chaotic past and an unpredictable future. In this interview conducted by Bookreporter reviewer Ray Palen, Iles explains his inspiration for writing the Natchez Burning trilogy and this latest novel, which takes place 15 years ahead of the trilogy. He also talks about his decision to include the character of third-party candidate and conservative radio talk show host Robert E. Lee White in the story, the role that he feels fiction should play going forward, the possibility of adapting these books as a film or series, and the health crisis he went through while writing SOUTHERN MAN that nearly cost him his life.

Author Talk: Stuart Turton, author of The Last Murder at the End of the World

May 31, 2024

Stuart Turton, the bestselling author of THE 7½ DEATHS OF EVELYN HARDCASTLE and THE DEVIL AND THE DARK WATER, is back with an inventive, high-concept murder mystery: an ingenious puzzle, an extraordinary backdrop and an audacious solution. In this interview, Turton talks about his inspiration for THE LAST MURDER AT THE END OF THE WORLD, why isolated settings appeal to him so much, his favorite character in the book, and what he has in mind for his fourth thriller.

Interview: Daniel Weizmann, author of Cinnamon Girl: A Pacific Coast Highway Mystery

May 30, 2024

Lyft driver-turned-sleuth Adam Zantz returns in CINNAMON GIRL, a neo-noir dive into the dark side of LA’s rock scene. In this interview conducted by Michael Barson, Senior Publicity Executive at Melville House, Daniel Weizmann explains how his approach to writing this book differed from that of his debut mystery, THE LAST SONGBIRD, which kicked off the Pacific Coast Highway series. He also talks about a couple of adjustments he made to his protagonist for this second installment, the musicians who have helped influence his writing, and what readers can expect for Adam’s third adventure.